Juergen Puetter’s quest to supply the Pacific Northwest with wind energy is powered by a twin-engine Dutchess

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Sunrise barely tints Dawson Creek, off the Alaskan Highway, when the Dutchess makes another low pass 200 feet over the ridgeline. Juergen Puetter is at the controls of the plane, flying on the edge, prospecting again. Not for gold or silver, but for land — ridge tops swirling with the gustiest drafts, to be precise.

The twin-engine Dutchess — slow-cruising and easily maneuverable — is the perfect plane for this sort of exploration, which could help define North America’s energy future. Nearly 20 states — including the entire west coast — are implementing energy mandates requiring that up to 30 percent of their total energy use over the next 10 to 20 years originate from renewable resources. Cleaner than bio-fuels and one-third as expensive as solar, wind-generation has put the blustery real estate staked out by Puetter’s Victoria, British Columbia–based firm, Aeolis, at the forefront of a green-energy revolution.

At the start of his quest, Puetter knew immediately that the mantra “location, location, location” also applied to the wind-generation business, and that the 350-foot-tall, 250-foot-wide turbines in his mind’s eye might eventually propel energy all the way from the Alaskan border to California. “Our goal is to have the capacity for 3,000 megawatts — about three times the capacity of an average power plant, three times the amount greater Seattle burns in a year . . . and deliver our green power asa major BC export,” he says.

Most in the enviro community are rooting for him. “There’s no carbon risk with wind,” explains Tom Eckman of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. “It doesn’t affect fish habitat like hydroelectric. It’s just about the greenest thing going.” Some activists, however, have faulted the visual assault of the towers on the pristine environs where they’re most often found; another concern is that birds might get chewed up by the massive turbines. In response, Aeolis has taken pains to limit the towers’ impact through various color schemes and radar-activated flashing avoidance lights.

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